Caribbean historians, cognizant of the benefits of a gendered approach to historical investigation, have consistently argued, especially since the 1980s, that the discipline of history must accommodate gender analysis. History, after all, is a participant in the production of knowledge about sexual difference and records changes in the social organization of the sexes. Therefore, as Joan Scott observes, “history’s representations of the past help construct gender for the present.” Historians, then, have to pay attention to the assumptions, practices, rhetoric and methodologies of the discipline of history to realize its full potential to construct gender for the present. In summary, the discipline of history provides a means for understanding and contributing to the process by which gender knowledge is produced.....read more